Ralph Reed Loses Georgia Primary Race

By SHAILA DEWAN
New York Times

ATLANTA, Wednesday, July 19 — Ralph Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition and a former Republican lobbyist involved in the Jack Abramoff scandal, suffered an embarrassing defeat in his effort to win the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor on Tuesday.

Mr. Reed conceded defeat before 10 p.m., with his opponent leading by more than 10 percentage points.

Early Wednesday, with more than 92 percent of precincts reporting, Mr. Reed’s opponent, State Senator Casey Cagle, led with 56 percent of the vote.

Mr. Reed’s candidacy was viewed as a test of the effects of the Washington lobbying scandal on core Republican voters.

Mr. Reed, the former leader of the Georgia Republican Party, was a close associate of Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist who pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, tax evasion and bribery and who arranged for Mr. Reed to be paid by Indian tribes that ran casinos to coordinate anti-gambling campaigns against competing casinos.

“It’s clear that politicians that put money before their morals should be very worried by these results,” said David Donnelly, the director of Campaign Money Watch, which spent $100,000 to campaign against Mr. Reed.

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